Thursday, April 28, 2011

Tank 276 - 28 April 2K11

This morning I had the pleasure of refueling at the Wawa near my home. It was a tender 76 degrees ar 5:50 in the morning, with one of those "toupee and combover alert" breezes blowing.

The mighty Corolla sucked up 10.800 gallons after travelling 425.3 miles on this tank, so my fuel economy was a respectable 39.38 miles per gallon.

Gas was $3.739 per gallon at this Wawa.

This was my 14th tank of gas this year. I got my 14th tank of gas last year on April 29th, so some comparisons can be made. Since people still are hung up on gas prices, I can report that I have spent $523.03 on gas this year, about $99 more over the similar period last year, or roughly $7.07 per tank of gas. Since I avarage a tank of gas about every 8 or 9 days, that is LESS THAN A DOLLAR A DAY DIFFERENCE IN GAS PRICES.

"Yes, but most people don't average 37 miles per gallon, Kenny!"

True, but most people don't drive 33 miles each way to and from work. And if they did, and drove a big truck that got half the mileage as me, that's still less than two dollars a day difference in the gas prices.

I've said it before and will say it again: if you can't absorb an added expense of less than ten dollars a week, you need to look closely at many of your life's decisions. Or drive more carefully and less agressively. Those jackrabbit starts and quick stops suck the gas out of your car with tremendous speed. There's a price you pay for those great feelings of sudden acceleration, and it is paid with more gas! And more brake pads!

If you mash on the brake pedal, you're just throwing money out the window. It means you are losing the benefit of momentum that your engine worked so hard to achieve.

Do everyone a favor. Look ahead of you on the road, beyond the car in front of you, to see what's happening up there. There's a good chance you'll reach that point up there soon, and if those cars are slow, bunched up, or stopped, why mash the gas to get there?

2 comments:

  1. Dear Kenny...

    Thank you for sharing your wise erudition. I no longer start my car with the Jack Rabbit because of you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I start my car with The Hamsters.

    ReplyDelete

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